If you could use one of two question sources for the child initial boards which one would you use? Any one tried both for their board exam and can comment which prepared them best for the exam? thanks
Beat the boards or board vitals for child boards
- Thread starter Madden007
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I've heard BTB alone is more than enough for the exam but that neither BTB nor BV is really indicative of what's on the exam. I keep hearing the exam is a lot more straightforward than you'd think. Hopefully that's true 
. I got Board Vitals myself and have been finding it more helpful than I did for the psychiatry initial certification exam. I hated doing the BTB questions last year though I did think the binder/notes were helpful. For Board Vitals I find the iPhone app super easy to use so I'm getting a lot of questions done that way.
. I got Board Vitals myself and have been finding it more helpful than I did for the psychiatry initial certification exam. I hated doing the BTB questions last year though I did think the binder/notes were helpful. For Board Vitals I find the iPhone app super easy to use so I'm getting a lot of questions done that way.
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I didn’t study. I found it likely not helpful to study as most of the questions are not simple book memorization topics. I’ve had friends do BTB and BV and neither were reported as helpful.
Can you elaborate on what you did to prepare? Of course, some of the questions are not going to be simple memorization topics, but we really need to have something to compare it to. I find it hard to believe that Board Vitals and BTB would provide pass guarantee if there wasn't even some remote resemblance to their material and the actual. Did it resemble PRITES at least?
If what you say is correct, you are an outlier and your persepective should be ignored. Most people study for board exams.
Do you have a PDF you could e-mail me if you have it?
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just google it
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None of my peers studied either. By the time you take your child boards, you are already adult boarded. Limited jobs will care about a 2nd board early in your career. You should already have a real job by the time you take the child boards, so they are already ok with you not being double boarded. Say your real job pays $175/hr. Every hour you study is $175 you could have earned elsewhere. After a certain amount of studying, it actually makes more financial sense to retake it than continue studying. I’ve yet to apply or be at a job that adjusts my salary for a 2nd board. 2 of my peer fellows haven’t even bothered to take it 4+ years out.
If it makes you feel more comfortable, study all you want. I found the child and addiction med board questions to be either very straight forward or so obtuse that I wouldn’t have studied that material anyway.
It's personal for me. I don't want to be the only fellow out of my graduating class who didn't pass the Child Psychiatry boards.
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Who is going to tell them?
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If your name doesn't show up on the ABPN Physician Lookup...
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Do you search all of your peers on there? How will they know you are even taking it?
I don’t think my class had a single fellow take it the first year out.
What year did you graduate? Most of everyone in my adult and child program searches people there. ABPN verify cert is the website if you are curious.
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Fellowship ended 5 years ago. I’ve used the website to verify new hire CV’s. I won’t be surprised if some child fellow peers never take the exam. For many, it is a waste of money.
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That's how I found out I passed my adult boards, my friend called me during my gym workout, "Hey, you passed, I saw your name on ABPN"
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Thats 1 bored friend.
It doesn’t say if you took the test or failed, so unless you tell someone you are taking it, no one will know if you failed.
To get remotely back on track:
The test has more videos now, and the questions can be about the clinical presentation. Experience gets you those points, not studying.
I found the questions either very basic or very obtuse. I’m glad I didn’t study, because I feel that it wouldn’t have been helpful. I’m sure others had a different experience.
I do know someone that failed, and he studied a lot. I only know because he told me. He also was on-call the night before the test. I would recommend getting a good night’s rest before the exam.
I thought, " None of [your] peers studied either. "
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Fair enough. 1 outlier. He didn’t study the first go round. I’m not sure if that helps or hurts my thoughts on studying. He did study prior to the second try, and it didn’t help, or maybe call influenced the outcome. Either way, I’m not seeing people study for this as a whole. If it makes you feel better, go for it.
That was a horrific test. Very disappointing experience. I'm hoping I didn't fail, but if I did, I'm not going to be able to take it again as I just don't have strength in me at this age to sit through another test.
It was challenging. Good luck.